Finishing on the East coast, I head west, to Phoenix,
Arizona. There are logistical reason for having to do this that relate to the
original plans for this trip which would have had me here for the entire
duration, thus the flight home is from here.
I had arranged to attend the Arizona Search and Rescue Conference
which was being held in Heber-Overgaard, about 3 hrs, north east of Phoenix along
some incredible roads with typical western views –lots of huge cactus.
The conference itself was held at a Salvation Army summer
Camp (Camp Ponderosa) which is a 11,000 acre site with large halls, conference facilities,
and space, lots of it, and a dining hall.
The list of classes and on-going events was impressive; it
included Helicopter safety, swift water response, ATV search, Search management
workshops, Man tracking classes, Climbing and rope work and plenty of dog
related training.
There was also 2 chaps form the UK Perkins and Roberts who
were there from the UK
http://www.searchresearch.org.uk/
It did however give me a chance to wander and see the other
groups, due to the terrain, and (here) type of person they are called to search
for a lot of the dogs do not train during the day between March and November,
this is due to the heat, and on a very sunny few days in April I can understand
why , but there were several classes or Tracking, trailing and air scenting,
and hrd.
The ATV search people went out and 5 hrs later came back
looking like dust monsters , coughing and spluttering their way to separate shower
areas, the use of these vehicles in this terrain is essential with most SAR teams
or Sheriff depts. having several.
Here are some of the vehicles that Sheriff depts. and SAR
have access to.
On the Saturday the front area and basketball courts were
booked for helicopter training and safety classes, to us in the UK it may seem
an extravagance to use helicopters for this but in this terrain and environment,
moving entire SAR teams is not uncommon thus everyone has to know about this .
The arrival of 2 helicopter’s one Black Hawk from the nearby
USAF reserve, and then one from the Arizona dept of Public safety started this
class.
The dogs appeared to enjoy it (mostly) as they were allowed
to jump in and out, then the aircraft were started and they did the same thing,
some with different responses this time.
Speaking to one of the county sheriffs, when they move an
entire teams up to search locations normally they will use a Chinook, which is
a military provision but easily done.
As with all events like this the evening meal n the Saturday
was a spectacular steak BBQ where all the delegates got together and shared experiences,
it’s been a hard year for Arizona SAR having lost due to illness and
helicopters crashes some key member’s.
I left having made some more friends that will stay in touch,
this really demonstrated the community and voluntary work in action, on the
Saturday night nearing the end of the meal, one of the county teams was
contacted and told to travel the near 130 miles to a location to search for a
child in a large wooded area. The team started to pack up kit to go , as did every
single other team there who were happy to go and assist, as it was the convoy
was cancelled fairly soon after it had started but none the less it showed the camaraderie
that exists.
My time in the US was nearly done so a day and a half of indulgence:
Leaving the conference a trip to the Grand Canyon, I managed
to get nearly a full day there and did a very pleasant 10 mile hike along the
Southern rim of the canyon from hermits rest to the visitor centre, it’s very
impressive, and has no regard for health and safety which is refreshing.
I stayed overnight in WILLIAMS to the west of Flagstaff, on
Route 66 and after a visit to a park this morning g make my way to Phoenix, to
fly home.
th
